Who is Alex Belfield and why has he been jailed?
FORMER BBC radio presenter, Alex Belfield, has been jailed for five and a half years.
Belfield, 42, subjected four people in a "relentless" campaign of stalking - including broadcaster Jeremy Vine.
Who is Alex Belfield?
Alex Belfield is a 42-year-old former BBC radio star and vlogger who hails from Nottinghamshire.
He presents a YouTube channel called Voice of Reason, which has over 361,000 subscribers.
In September 1997, he began his career as part of the launch team of Radio 106.
Since 2012 Belfield has focused on presenting and producing content for his website Celebrity Radio.
Why has Alex Belfield been jailed?
Belfield was jailed after being found guilty of stalking four victims online.
His trial heard he made YouTube videos about them, posted messages on social media, sent emails, and also encouraged those that follow him to target them.
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During the trial at Nottingham Crown Court, Judge, Mr Justice Saini spoke of how BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Keith was "seconds away" from killing himself after suffering from “tsunami of hate”.
Mr Justice Saini added: "You made communications which had serious impacts on the private lives of the complaints and had distressing effects on their physical and mental health.''
Mr Vine labelled him "the Jimmy Savile of trolling" during the trial which heard he repeatedly posted or sent abusive messages, videos and emails.
Also speaking during the trial, describing watching Belfield’s video output as like swimming in sewage, Mr Vine said: “It felt like I had a fish hook in my face and my flesh was being torn, and the only way to avoid further pain was to stay completely still.”
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The full wording of the charges stated he "pursued a course of conduct that amounted to harassment" of the complainants, which "amounted to stalking" and caused them "serious alarm or distress".
Jurors convicted Belfield, of Mapperley, Nottingham, of four charges committed between 2012 and 2021 and for each of these charges, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, to run consecutively.
When sentencing Belfield, Mr Justice Saini told him: ‘'Your offences are so serious, only a custodial sentence can be justified.’'
He added there was “no escape” for Belfield’s victims, until bail conditions were imposed ahead of his trial.
He also agreed with Mr Vine’s characterisation that the ex-DJ had “weaponised the internet” against those he targeted.
He was cleared of stalking charges in relation to the BBC's former head of North Rozina Breen, former BBC Radio Leeds presenters Liz Green and Stephanie Hirst, and former BBC worker Helen Thomas.
What happened between Alex Belfield and Jeremy Vine?
Prosecutors claimed Belfield subjected Vine to a “relentless” online campaign that included a “wave of personal and unpleasant attacks” on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook over an 11-month period.
Belfield had denied stalking the 57-year-old, and seven other alleged victims, claiming he was the subject of a “witch hunt”.
But on August 5, 2022 he was found guilty of "simple stalking" regarding Vine and blogger Philip Dehany.
He has also been convicted of stalking Bernie Keith and videographer Ben Hewis.
Belfield showed no emotion and wrote on a piece of paper as verdicts were delivered.
What radio shows has he presented?
Belfield has worked for over 80 radio stations in the UK.
In September 2001 he began his career as a radio host after joining BBC Radio Leicester.
Between 2004 and 2010, he appeared on radio stations, including Mercia FM, Touch FM, BBC Bristol, BBC Radio Shropshire and BBC Hereford and Worcester.
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In 2006, he presented the breakfast show on Capital Gold in Birmingham for six weeks, before moving to London to take over the station's networked national late show called The Late Night Revolution.
In December 2011, Belfield made his debut on BBC Radio 2 with Jimmy Savile's "last in-depth interview", recorded at Savile's Leeds home in February that year.